Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1887-09-16
OnPninr Address.

Judge J .'G. Swinnerton, of Stockton. wa:
Introduced by President L. [. Shippee and
spoke as follows:
Ladies aud Gentlemen: | am afraid thai
the introduction of your President has beer
somewhat pretentious. l am very much
afraid that if | wei 10 attempt to deliver
an address on agriculture that | should
come out as an q srcultural Governor oil
Indiana once did. who had been elected to
the Chair of State chiefly through the
influence of the farmers, and he considered
il his duty under the circumstances to make
himself entirely solid with the agricultural
interests. He had not been very long in
The Chair of State before one of his CON
s;ituents wrote to him to know of his opin-
ion on hydraulic rams, and he wrote back
10 him thus: " Your letter respecting hy-
drauGc rams has been received and con-
tents noted. In reply | wish to state that
this i an animal upon which | have de-
voted a great deal of cultivation. | con-
slider il the best in the world. 1t is better
than the Southdown for mutton and better
than Merino for wool" Laughter
have no desire, have no time, / have no
opportunity, l have no ability 10 enter upon
Z discussion of the course of the develop
ments of the agricultural interests of the
State Of California; but if l had
such time, if | had such OPP
portunity. if | had such ability
] am afraid that would not do it. have
sat for one hour in this part OF the building
ard have been permitted to observe the
wonderful exhibits that are spread out
here before me, and if had any speech 10
make at all if had any inspiration atall,
Ii had any language at all, if | had any
thought at all, they would necessarily, BY
virtue OF my surroundings, center upon
the topic of the sovereignty of man.
In spite OF all that has been said to the con-
uary, in spite of all that has been written,
III spite of all that has been sung we must
believe that there existed some time in
remote antiquity II primitive man. One
OF our greatest American poets has depicted
old man at the close of q career of study
and labor, who had devoted all his
life 10 the science of alchemy,
who had endeavored TO fird a uni
yersal solvent. lie had spent DAYS.
weeks, months and years, in the hope that
lie might be able TO read the stars and fore
cast events in human life. He had spent
his whole lifelong in endeavoring to dis
cover secret by which he might trans
mite base metals into gold, and when all
had been done and he lay upon his death
bed he attempted TO keep the Pickering
lamp of life burning by stimulants.
which he had discovered TO no avail He
mplaiuedagainst the Almighty because
he had set boundary ,aad limit to hui
man effort by means of death. And the
poet makes him say:
Aye, Were no. man to die, but were TO occupy
half this marrow sphere:
Could he but live and brood the knowledge
here
Could he but watch the mystic word and hour.
Only his Makeg coGldstranScend his power.
Earth has no Mineral strange, illimitable air no
hidden wings,
Water no qualities i'll covert springs;
season no mystery. and the stars no spell
Which the innnermost soul might not compel
And here and now in our presence. by
virtue of two devices. that which the
alchemist complained against IS removed
Ii Is possible for NAN to carry on il is DOS
sible for man 10 reach cut into ages past. il
Is possible for man to make all that is I'M
developed into one continued symmetrical.
perfect human life These two devices are
the figures l, ., 4, /, 5,G, :, s, 8, and the
twenty-six letters of the alphabet. by
virtue OF the powesss themselves, there are
TO human efforts 60 great, there are no
acts O. man so magnetic there are no in
spiratiols SO graSd thee are no
human developments ,that might
no, BE carried down to The
very lase syllable of recorded time.
But there vas such thing as primitive
man. We can trace his footprints as he
lived upan The sands of time He was COW
cred with bEir, his fngar-nails were first
long and then became claws. ,Kis hair
was matted ever his eyes, which served to
protect them from the assault OF MS enc
mics and 20 keep the dus. and dirt cut of
them. In daytime he wandered the
esrth, and the, only machine and ali the
implement be had was shaspened stick.
At night he crayled among the rocks
doubled himself up like a bear Or wolf and
SLEPT. In the iaofning he walked optfrom
his cave, and he gathered snakes toads.
lizards. and ate chem, because he had not
the espacity 10 control. nor the power
10 capture any animal higher in 1
The scale of animal existence: and
yet withi2 the brain of that primitive man
there existed potential energies of every. |
thing that We see before US here and eyery-
thing that the human family has ever
since. As The acorn contains /
within itself the potential enargies of the |
1ak that shall stand the tempest and rage |
d centuries, so within the iDdGsate and |
oruialEed brain of that primitive /
nan there existed the potential |
energies to develop everything that has |
,een discovered, wrought out and perfected
ince. IT is q majestic i.,o3ght that sii the
'rogress. eli the energies. az he inventi0n